Sizes & Colours
Anderson plugs come in a range of sizes and colours, the most common being the grey and the red 50-amp ones. You can get up to a 350-amp. The bigger the current, the bigger the Anderson plug we need.
A red Anderson plug will only fit into a red Anderson plug. We can’t connect, basically, a red and a grey. The only real reason you’ll have the different colours is so that you always remember to connect the right accessory into the right accessory on your caravan circuit or car.
When to Use an Anderson Plug
Charging Circuits
The Anderson plug is designed to handle a high, continuous load, so this makes it ideal to use in charging circuits. The most common use that we install Anderson plugs for is charging the auxiliary battery in your caravan or camper trailer when driving.
It’s fitted to the rear of the vehicle like this one here. This is the ideal alternative to running a charge feed through your 12-pin plug. Too much current charging through a 12-pin plug can cause the pins to melt as they’re not large enough to handle the current from most modern alternators. Having an Anderson plugs means you can safely pass more charge through to your caravan’s battery charge system, keeping the caravan batteries charged up while you travel to your next destination.
Solar Panel Connection
Another common use for Anderson plugs is to connect a solar panel via a regulator to top up your batteries. We often fit these to four-wheel drives and caravans with dual battery systems in an easy to access location so they could easily top up their auxiliary batteries via the solar panel without having to run your vehicle.
Powering ESC (Electronic Stability Control)
We’ll also regularly fit another Anderson plug to your tow bar if you’ve got a caravan that requires power to ESC, which is electronic stability control. Although your ESC can be run through a 12-pin if necessary, we recommend using an Anderson plug because it’s a more secure connection when driving, and ease of disconnection if you’re going off-road. It’s common practice to use a red Anderson plug for ESC and a grey one for your charge feed on the back of your car so you can easily identify them.
12 Volt Accessory Power Alternative
Due to their secure locking design, Anderson plugs also make great alternatives for powering high-draw 12-volt accessories such as fridges and air compressors. Anderson plugs are much more robust and hold a more secure connection than the standard 12-volt cigarette socket. They’re particularly good for those of us who like to venture off the beaten track.
I hope this video has given you a bit more information about what Anderson plugs are and why we recommend installing them as part of a dual battery system in your four-wheel drive, caravan, or camper trailer.
If you have any further questions about Anderson plugs, give us a call on 1300 227 353, contact us online or comment below.
Hi
I have recently bought a camper trail. Has Anderson plug on draw bar and 2 x 100amp batteries.
I have dual battery under bonnet. Auxiliary battery charges through dcdc. Can I run an Anderson plug straight of auxiliary battery with 20amp fuse to back of car to charge batteries in camper?
20amp fuse is undersized for a charge rate.
We would recommend a dedicated Anderson plug wire via an ignition switched relay off your start battery with a minimum of an 8 B&S twin and 50 Amp midi fuse for any charging circuit.
In an ideal world, we would run a DCDC charger in the trailer also to ensure correct battery charging is achieved and maintained.
Toni, we have recently upgraded from a soft tamper to an Ezytrail Stirling GT Mk 2 forward fold camper. We were running a Regulated Rich Solar 220 watt solar array which we connected to the old campers grey Anderson plug. This worked perfectly well.
When we bought the Stirling the dealer threw in the off grid power back as an incentive to buy which we jumped at. However upon connecting up the solar array to the Stirling grey Andersen plug on the draw bar, no result. The solar array did not recognise the Stirling electrics. I ran the Ezytrail agent who advised that the regulated solar array will not work with the off grid set up. Their advice to me was by pass the regulator on this solar array or buy another array that was unregulated. There is another 12v power input point on the Camper which is fitted with a red Anderson plug which I understand is for unregulated power. I know that you cannot connect grey to red. Before we either deregulate our existing array or buy a new unregulated one, is there a simpler solution. The camper is about a month into the warranty period so I don’t want to make any changes which would void the warranty. Regards.
The easiest option would be fitting a grey Anderson plug that is wired directly to the camper trailers battery as a 12v supply. This would allow you to use the existing panel without having to bypass or remove the regulator on the panel.
I have an Anderson Plug at the rear of my vehicle and at the caravan for vehicle charging of the auxiliary batteries. Can I split the input to the caravan batteries, with one attached to the vehicle and a solar panel on top of the vehicle, with regulator, to the other input?
Hi Gary, we’re a little confused about what you are trying to achieve with this configuration but as a general note, we do not recommend splitting inputs as it doesn’t usually work properly. If you would like further advice, we would suggest contacting our office direct on 07 5479 6652 and having a chat with one of our technicians.
I have a red Anderson plug in my vehicle to charge my duel battery system from solar. (redarc BCDC1225D). My solar blanket has a grey Anderson plug. Question can I make up an extension cord with one end on a grey Anderson Plug and the other with a red Anderson plug.
Hi Rob, yes, technically you can do it that way. However, we would suggest just changing the solar panel Anderson plug to a red Anderson plug and then it’s one less connection. Let us know if you have any further questions.
I was wondering how weather proof the plugs are when connecting a truck to a 5th wheel?
Anderson plugs are quite durable and are widely recommended in the caravan industry. In our experience, the only time there seems to be an issue is when the backs are sealed up with silicone so moisture can’t escape.
Hi I have recently bought a 2nd hand Ford Ranger that has a 12-volt socket in the rear tray. I also have a compare trailer that has an Anderson plug at the tow ball to charge the batteries and run the fridge while driving.
Being a novice, I was wondering if I could connect my 12-volt socket to the Anderson plug to achieve the same result as hard wiring from the battery under the bonnet?
It will save me some dollars as I would only use it a few times each year.
Thank you for your help,
Mick
We would definitely not recommend it. The factory wiring is small and not designed for that purpose. The fuses will most likely blow and the batteries in camper won’t charge correctly due to voltage drop. It is recommended to run a dedicated charge feed to the rear of the vehicle to suit charging applications
I have seen an Anderson Plug wired into 2 Anderson plugs like a splitter in stores. I have a 200w solar panel, if I connected 2 batteries to split plugs by Anderson plug and connected main plug the split comes from to my solar panel does this mean I can charge both batteries of my solar panel?
Hi Roy, unfortunately, you cannot charge 2x separate batteries off one solar panel. However, if the batteries are wired in parallel as 1x battery bank then, yes, you can use the 1 panel for charging both. The regulator cannot handle charging 2x separate batteries. If you have any further questions about charging your batteries, feel free to give us a call on 07 5479 6652.